I can assure you crab is quite correct .... If anything the bar was set higher for them . No favours . i know it to be true but I guess if you want to believe otherwise that your right !!!

Bar set higher, you say? Well, there we go then - superior Windsor genes it is then.

I can't see anything special being done for them to be honest training or standards wise.

Price Edwards left the Royals after 4 months no cutting back of standards there.

I wouldn't be surprised if the lads were members of this forum either.

Can't comment about Helicopters and Prince Henry but when his brother decided to ride a motorbike he had to do the full metropolitan police advanced bike course and by all accounts passed it by a considerable margin with great finesse. to the intense chagrin of a very small number who doubted he could do it. Trust me on a police driving course there is nowhere to hide. Cant see the military cutting corners for either of them.
Be lucky
David
P.S. So did his protection team !

Melmoth,

I'm not of the 'old guard', though some of the yoof knocking around might disagree. While I'm fortunate enough to have some half decent exam results, 3 of my colleagues at Linton had the 'minimum requirements' set by the recruitment bods at the time. Didn't do them any harm (decent FJ pilots, though a couple did become QFI's).

Also, flying does have a tendency to 'run in the genes' in much the same way that sporting families tend to have sporting kids . Some of it is nurture and some of it is nature, but a lot of it is self belief.
Seriously, there's a chip on that shoulder. Let it go. They're both good lads in their own right (lucky enough to have worked with both of them) who would have no issues if their surname was Smith.

I would also make the point that the Air Corps milked the exposure for all it was worth, so it really was a two way street. Harry had to put in the hard yards, end of. Try walking one of the Poles then returning for a two week Ex in a tent ooop north. There are NO FREE RIDES in an Apache.

I did, I mean the drugs thing didn't come up until the AIB but they seemed to be more suspicious of the one candidate who swore he'd never tried them.

the fourth one is the one you won't see, even though you don't know them and have no idea what they went through to join up.

The fourth option is that they were inevitably going to join the military (that happens in plenty of families) they both wanted to fly and they both had to meet the entry criteria (medical, academic and selection tests), then they both worked hard during training and met the same or higher standards than their course-mates.

However, melmoth, you seem to know better :ugh: hope you are wearing your tinfoil hat so the security services can't spy on you for thinking anti-royal thoughts - it is all part of a conspiracy isn't it?

That's actually the first option crab, but hey ho.

That was your actual first option - they would not have been selected for pilot training without passing that selection process on their own merits.

There are very few natural born aviators (and neither prince is), people just work hard during training to achieve the standard.

I'm sure your prejudice won't let you accept that.

Would you be happier that they spent their whole lives as playboys because that would satisfy your green-eyed gaze at those young men whose lives (in your view) are a constant stream of privilege and elitist opportunity?

Ex AAC commissioned from the ranks. HIstory O level (B) and Maths GCSE (Grade 2). Education is a tangible yardstick of ability to learn but a lack of educational certificates are not proof of an inability to learn.

Melmoth
I've always had the greatest admiration and respect for your writing over the years.

You've just trashed your reputation...

Sorry to hear that Nige. Before I post next time, I'll be sure to check that my views tally with yours and others to avoid any unpleasantness.

I'm certain there was no reduction in standards for William and Harry when they went through military selection and training. However, there was one particular thing where they did indeed receive 'special' treatment.

Prior to them attending the DHFS helicopter course, the course did not comply with CAA/JAA requirements for PPL(h). Quite a lot of work was done to ensure the course became compliant so that William and Harry could get their PPL(h) without any further training. Things like a qualifying solo cross country navex, vortex ring recovery training in the simulator, revisions to the ground briefings to include LTE and an air law exam were included. This work would not have been done, had PPL(h)s not been a secondary target for the Royal brothers.

Prior to their attendance, the UK military had pretty much actively discouraged their pilots from getting licenses and certainly had not moved the course goalposts to fit. Indeed, several years after they left, with the onset of EASA regulations, guess what? The course is no longer compliant and the military have no interest in making licenses a priority for our serving lads and lasses (at least that was the case 12 months ago, and I've no reason to suspect that it's changed).

Don't get me wrong, I'm not having a pop at the Royals here. I just dislike the sycophantic way individuals within the military hierarchy moved heaven and earth to accommodate the Royals, when they wouldn't move an inch to accommodate, or reward, the career aviator/soldier.

With you on that one jelly - we have been badly let down by our senior staff regarding training equivalence - all because they are paranoid about people leaving once they get a licence.

How well has that worked then?

You have trashed your argument.

Buggah! Buggah!!

The establishment bending over backwards for the royals was precisely my point. Here is an example. Some may believe this is where it began and ended. I suspect not.

Separately, that was never my argument fareastdriver. Go back and read the post again if you care to. Or don't.

It is because I don't believe military flying to be easy and because I don't believe that every Windsor is a natural born aviatior that I suggest that one or all of them had a leg up to get on the ladder, so to speak.

so by that logic, how do you explain that they both served on front-line squadrons where they were not protected or nannied and fulfilled all the same duties as their compatriots?

Could it just be that they were good enough to cope with the demands of military flying and that their lineage mattered not a jot?

William did the same number of SAR shifts as the other pilots (as well as his royal duties) and captained the aircraft with a variety of experienced and inexperienced co pilots and crews - when on duty he could be called out day or night regardless of the weather, at one of the busiest and most demanding SAR flights - how on earth does your presumed leg up give him any advantage there?